Full Length Research Paper

Bacteria associated with bovine dermatophilosis in Zaria, Nigeria

J. S. Dalis¹*, H. M. Kazeem², A. A. Makinde¹ and M. Y. Fatihu²

¹National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Nigeria.

²Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: dalisjames@yahoo.com. Tel: 234-8069299910.

Accepted 18 March, 2010

Abstract

A study was carried out to determine the type of bacteria associated with bovine dermatophilosis in Zaria, Nigeria. Skin samples obtained from two hundred and eleven cattle with skin lesions suspected to be dermatophilosis were processed for bacteriology. One hundred and sixty-seven (79.1%) samples were positive for Dermatophilus congolensis, while 44 (20.9%) were negative. Both D. congolensis-positive and D. congolensis-negative samples were processed for isolation of other bacteria and the data was analyzed using Chi square test.  Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus spp., Corynebacterium spp., Escherichia coli, Proteus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. were isolated from both D. congolensis-positive and D. congolensis-negative scabs. However, the rate of recovery of S. aureus from D. congolensis-positive cattle was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the rate of its recovery from D. congolensis negative cattle. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the occurrence of the other isolates in D. congolensis- positive and D. congolensis-negative cattle. It was concluded that S. aureus could be a major complicating factor in naturally occurring dermatophilosis of cattle. The need to investigate the role of bacteria particularly that of S. aureus in the development of bovine dermatophilosis was emphasized.  

Key words: Dermatophilus congololensis, bovine skin, associated bacteria, Zaria, Nigeria.